United Community Schools improves student achievement by addressing the emotional, social and health issues that can stand in the way of learning.
Challenge
Founded by the United Federation of Teachers as “New York City Community Learning Schools,” the program had ambitions to expand beyond NYC while adding services and needed to differentiate from other community school programs.
Key Insight
The program’s unique model of placing a dedicated Director within each school serves to unite the community around the school – supporting students’ needs with services like eyeglasses, medical care, food and more, sourced directly from within their community.
Solution
Following extensive research, we developed a brand strategy encapsulated by a short but powerful phrase – United for Better – that highlights the organization’s deep partnerships with teachers, parents and community groups. Messaging emphasizes that United Community Schools is more than a model – it has proven its effectiveness in more than 30 schools. The new name, inspired by the brand strategy, is supported by a powerful visual brand that employs a bright palette of unexpected colors to convey the diversity of partners – and the boldness of ideas – that make the organization a successful and increasingly influential force in education. A custom typeface is designed without spaces, utilizing icons that “fill in the gaps” between words, inspired by the way the organization fills in the gaps in student’s lives.
Impact
The result is a brand system that has helped fuel growth of the organization into new markets and services while helping open new funding.